On 1 May 2010, LEO Pharma Singapore worked together with Dr. Colin Theng, president of the Psoriasis Association of Singapore (PAS) to organize a public forum with the aim of increasing the public interests on the disease and its management. The public forum was held in English and Mandarin sessions at York Hotel. A panel of speakers which comprises of Dr. Colin Theng, Dr. Lim Kar Seng and Dr. Chong Wei Sheng highlighted psoriasis as a common, chronic systemic inflammatory disease which requires life-long management. At the end of the session, the speakers also conducted free skin screening for those who wanted to know whether they have the disease.
We attracted initial public interest to attend the public forum through local newspapers advertorial with a provocative question, “Is my rash Psoriasis?”. A media interview was arranged for Dr. Colin Theng and Dr Chong Wei Sheng to answer frequently asked questions relating to the disease state, treatment options and care of psoriasis. The local newspapers, Straits Times and Lian He Zao Bao published their interview in the health section on 29 April and 30 April respectively. Both papers mentioned a two-compound product, Daivobet® Ointment (Calcipotriol and Betamethasone dipropionate) which provides high efficacy for the treatment of psoriasis. A short advertisement which informed the public to book their seats for the forum also appeared in the same column.
The phone used as the registration hotline rang incessantly on the day the articles appeared in press with people eager to participate in the forum. By noon, all 300 seats were taken up through reservation.
On the day of public forum, around 260 people attended the talk to learn about the disease, treatment options and product advancements in psoriasis field. The speakers highlighted Daivobet® benefits as a once-daily, safe and highly effective topical agent for psoriasis. They also demonstrated clearly the product's efficacy through before and after treatment clinical pictures taken from their own patients.
At the end of each session, many participants stood up to ask the psoriasis experts on practical aspects of day to day management of their disease. They also took the opportunity to get a free skin diagnosis from the panel of experts.
The inaugural event boosted PAS's and LEO’s image as it demonstrated the commitment to deliver value adding services to the psoriasis patients.
LEO was entrusted by PAS to run the event on their behalf and we learned to handle the members of the public in a professional manner. From the feedback gathered, the event generated a lot of interests from the public towards the disease and the treatment options. There were also a number of people signing up for the PAS membership at the booth.
LEO would like to thank PAS for the opportunity given in the collaboration, and the doctors, Dr Colin Theng, Dr Lim Kar Seng and Dr Chong Wei Sheng for their assistance in conducting the talks. Not forgetting the committee members of PAS for all the support rendered to us. Certainly looking towards more collaboration in the future.
Yanee
LEO Singapore
